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Harden Moor
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Harden Moor
Harden Moor is an expanse of moorland that lies north of the village of Harden in West Yorkshire, England. The moor encompasses stretches of heather, woodland and former quarry workings and is bordered by Airedale to the east, the Worth Valley to the north and Catstones Moor and the village of Cullingworth to the west. Historically, Harden Moor occupied the high ground between Bingley, Keighley, Cullingworth and Harden. Altar Lane, an unmade road which runs from the Brown Cow Inn in Bingley to Keighley Road on Harden Moor is an unofficial border between the estate of St Ives and Harden Moor, but when the St Ives Estate was created, a large swathe of Harden Moor was taken over.
The moorland has a varied history, with a Roman Road, industrial workings and modern day leisure activities.
Before the St Ives estate was formed, Harden Moor stretched from Bingley in the east to Cullingworth in the west. In 13th century deeds, Ellar Carr Beck (which drains down from Lees Moor and skirts the northern edge of Cullingworth) was defined as the western edge of Harden. This area included Catstones Moor and north up to Hainworth Shaw. Opinions vary as to what the boundaries of Harden Moor are; 18th and 19th century texts describe Harden Moor as including Altar Rock (Druid's Altar) and the land surrounding. In modern archaeological data, Adrian Chadwick describes Catstones Ring on Catstones Moor as being on the southwestern edge of Harden Moor.
The history of Harden Moor goes back to the Bronze Age and this is evidenced by the cairns on the moor that have been listed with Historic England. The cairns, which can date from anywhere between 2000-700BC, are examples of Bronze Age burial mounds. These cairns and the ring on Catstones Moor were listed by English Heritage in 2010 as being at risk of falling into decay.
The Brigantes, who occupied the territory before the Roman invasion, used a gritstone outcrop that overlooks Bingley as an altar in what is believed to be a form of Druidism. Cup and ringlet marks have been found carved in Altar Rock (also popularly known as Druid's Altar). There is a Roman Road which crosses Harden Moor on a south west/north east axis. This road originated in Manchester (Mamucium) and continued north to Ilkley going through Riddlesden, Morton Banks and Rombalds Moor to what was the Roman encampment known as Olicana. A second Roman road passed through Harden village and crossed Harden Beck by the Malt Shovel inn. It then went in a north westerly direction passing near to the hamlet of Ryecroft and crossing the moor near to Ryecroft Road. Remains of this road can still be seen on the stretch of moorland that is near to the Guide Inn public house. The Malt Shovel Inn in Harden village was also the place where travelling judges would pass sentences on criminals. Those who received the death penalty were hung on Harden Moor.
Fairfax Entrenchment, a curved trench believed to have been the site of a skirmish between the two warring sides in the English Civil War, was on Harden Moor. Although there is no known documentary evidence of a fight, it is known that Thomas Fairfax stayed at Harden Grange and most likely he ordered a trench to be dug as a defensive measure. The site is now part of the St Ives estate which has also been converted partly into a golf course. At the time of the supposed skirmish, the site was part of Harden Moor and the area was left undeveloped by the Ferrand family (the local landowners) in deference to the rumour that bodies of fallen civil war soldiers were buried there. Large scale mapping indicates the shape and curve of the trench with the soldiers graves being behind the northern curve of the trench and just south of Altar Lane.
Due to finds of coins and other artifacts, it is believed that the Jacobite army of 1745 passed over Harden Moor in November of that year en route to Preston. The moorland was enclosed in stages from 1816 with full enclosure being completed in 1855. In the maps of the Enclosure Act in Airedale, Harden Moor is listed as the section between Bingley and Hainworth Shaw (a hamlet just to the north of present-day Harden Moor).
As with other neighbouring moorlands, Harden Moor was used for military training during the Second World War. Empty shell casings and tail fins from mortar rounds have been found scattered across these moors. On the St Ives Estate is an old hut where the Home Guard used to meet up and were called out to search for enemy parachutists dropping down onto Harden Moor (though there is no documentary evidence that anyone did actually parachute onto Harden Moor). In 1945, four Keighley teenagers were walking across the moor when one of them found a mortar and without realising it was live, threw the mortar against a wall. An explosion followed and all suffered injuries (three of them seriously) and they were taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary for treatment. A further three explosions of unattended ordnance followed during the summer of 1945, and one of which resulted in the death of 13 year old Frank Charles Smith (of Keighley). This prompted Bingley Urban District Council, who owned the moor at the time, to initiate a burn policy across parts of the moor to allow mine detectors to be used in the search for unexploded ordnance.
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Harden Moor
Harden Moor is an expanse of moorland that lies north of the village of Harden in West Yorkshire, England. The moor encompasses stretches of heather, woodland and former quarry workings and is bordered by Airedale to the east, the Worth Valley to the north and Catstones Moor and the village of Cullingworth to the west. Historically, Harden Moor occupied the high ground between Bingley, Keighley, Cullingworth and Harden. Altar Lane, an unmade road which runs from the Brown Cow Inn in Bingley to Keighley Road on Harden Moor is an unofficial border between the estate of St Ives and Harden Moor, but when the St Ives Estate was created, a large swathe of Harden Moor was taken over.
The moorland has a varied history, with a Roman Road, industrial workings and modern day leisure activities.
Before the St Ives estate was formed, Harden Moor stretched from Bingley in the east to Cullingworth in the west. In 13th century deeds, Ellar Carr Beck (which drains down from Lees Moor and skirts the northern edge of Cullingworth) was defined as the western edge of Harden. This area included Catstones Moor and north up to Hainworth Shaw. Opinions vary as to what the boundaries of Harden Moor are; 18th and 19th century texts describe Harden Moor as including Altar Rock (Druid's Altar) and the land surrounding. In modern archaeological data, Adrian Chadwick describes Catstones Ring on Catstones Moor as being on the southwestern edge of Harden Moor.
The history of Harden Moor goes back to the Bronze Age and this is evidenced by the cairns on the moor that have been listed with Historic England. The cairns, which can date from anywhere between 2000-700BC, are examples of Bronze Age burial mounds. These cairns and the ring on Catstones Moor were listed by English Heritage in 2010 as being at risk of falling into decay.
The Brigantes, who occupied the territory before the Roman invasion, used a gritstone outcrop that overlooks Bingley as an altar in what is believed to be a form of Druidism. Cup and ringlet marks have been found carved in Altar Rock (also popularly known as Druid's Altar). There is a Roman Road which crosses Harden Moor on a south west/north east axis. This road originated in Manchester (Mamucium) and continued north to Ilkley going through Riddlesden, Morton Banks and Rombalds Moor to what was the Roman encampment known as Olicana. A second Roman road passed through Harden village and crossed Harden Beck by the Malt Shovel inn. It then went in a north westerly direction passing near to the hamlet of Ryecroft and crossing the moor near to Ryecroft Road. Remains of this road can still be seen on the stretch of moorland that is near to the Guide Inn public house. The Malt Shovel Inn in Harden village was also the place where travelling judges would pass sentences on criminals. Those who received the death penalty were hung on Harden Moor.
Fairfax Entrenchment, a curved trench believed to have been the site of a skirmish between the two warring sides in the English Civil War, was on Harden Moor. Although there is no known documentary evidence of a fight, it is known that Thomas Fairfax stayed at Harden Grange and most likely he ordered a trench to be dug as a defensive measure. The site is now part of the St Ives estate which has also been converted partly into a golf course. At the time of the supposed skirmish, the site was part of Harden Moor and the area was left undeveloped by the Ferrand family (the local landowners) in deference to the rumour that bodies of fallen civil war soldiers were buried there. Large scale mapping indicates the shape and curve of the trench with the soldiers graves being behind the northern curve of the trench and just south of Altar Lane.
Due to finds of coins and other artifacts, it is believed that the Jacobite army of 1745 passed over Harden Moor in November of that year en route to Preston. The moorland was enclosed in stages from 1816 with full enclosure being completed in 1855. In the maps of the Enclosure Act in Airedale, Harden Moor is listed as the section between Bingley and Hainworth Shaw (a hamlet just to the north of present-day Harden Moor).
As with other neighbouring moorlands, Harden Moor was used for military training during the Second World War. Empty shell casings and tail fins from mortar rounds have been found scattered across these moors. On the St Ives Estate is an old hut where the Home Guard used to meet up and were called out to search for enemy parachutists dropping down onto Harden Moor (though there is no documentary evidence that anyone did actually parachute onto Harden Moor). In 1945, four Keighley teenagers were walking across the moor when one of them found a mortar and without realising it was live, threw the mortar against a wall. An explosion followed and all suffered injuries (three of them seriously) and they were taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary for treatment. A further three explosions of unattended ordnance followed during the summer of 1945, and one of which resulted in the death of 13 year old Frank Charles Smith (of Keighley). This prompted Bingley Urban District Council, who owned the moor at the time, to initiate a burn policy across parts of the moor to allow mine detectors to be used in the search for unexploded ordnance.
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